View From the Cab

Soybean Harvest Finally Underway in Western Iowa; Peanut Harvest Continues in Florida

Richard Oswald
By  Richard Oswald , DTN Special Correspondent
This year's DTN View From the Cab farmers are Jamie Harris of Madison, Fla., and Karen Johnson of Avoca, Iowa. (Jamie Harris photo by Elaine Shein; Karen Johnson photo by Nick Scalise)

LANGDON, Mo. (DTN) -- For farmers everywhere, the day eventually comes when work, investment, and waiting finally bear fruit in nature's final solution. That's the way it is for View from the Cab farmers Jamie Harris of Madison, Fla., and Karen Johnson of Avoca, Iowa, where harvest has finally arrived.

Rainfall has been limited for Jamie and his partners at Jimmie Harris and Sons family farm. Dry weather, with temperature highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s Fahrenheit, has allowed peanut harvest to speed ahead. "It's been a long week. We got about 250 acres of peanuts picked with 615 to go," Jamie told DTN late Tuesday evening.

But there have been obstacles along the way. Long lines at the collection point kept Jimmy Harris and Sons' two trucks stuck in line waiting to pick up empty trailers for return trips to the field. "We're still waiting on trailers. Several days last week we only got two or three trucks a day. So we rented a couple of extra semi-trucks. Now we can get six to nine depending on how good the peanuts are," Jamie said. Yields for irrigated peanuts remain strong at 6,000 to 7,000 pounds per acre.

Florida weight limits for farm trucks have been raised from 80,000 to 88,500 pounds, but overweight trucks aren't allowed on federal highways where standard limits remain in force.

If farmers in harvest mode are an unstoppable force, then occasional encounters with immovable objects can occur. That's what happened Saturday when the peanut digger made contact with a rock the size of a 55-gallon drum: the digger had $800 in damage. "It happened on the first pass in a 120-acre field. We took it apart Sunday, got the part, and were digging again Monday," Jamie said. Most of Jamie's fields are rock free -- but not this one in Suwannee County.

Demand remains strong for pumpkins. Original plans called for two cuttings. But with prices holding and maturing fruit still on the ground, harvest will last into this week with a third cutting.

Watermelons will be cut a second time this week after yielding about 20,000 pounds per acre last week. First stop on the way to market is a packing shed in Madison. From there, they will go to retailers in Atlanta, Ga., and Miami, Fla. Notable among buyers is the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain.

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Insect pests are a problem in Florida even into autumn. Soybean loopers will be controlled this week in maturing fields of iron clay peas, where harvest should begin once peanuts are out. Broccoli fields were treated last week for white flies. One field of soybeans was sprayed with paraquat where stands were thickened by replanting into existing plants. "We went ahead and knocked the green leaves off of them," Jamie explained.

First and second plantings of broccoli were fertilized last week with 10 gallons of 28% liquid N. By the time harvest arrives, plants will have received a total 350 units of N. "Broccoli takes more nitrogen than corn," Jamie said. Once broccoli heads reach 4 to 6 inches in diameter, it's time to harvest. Thirty to 40 heads are placed in boxes weighing 25 to 30 pounds. Top-end yields are expected in the neighborhood of 400 boxes per acre. That's about 12,000 pounds. Prices at harvest could range from $8 up to $20 per box based on demand in the marketplace. "That's the thing about produce. There's money to be made, but $10 is only breakeven. It could be $8 today and $12 tomorrow," Jamie said.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, the long-awaited day has arrived for Karen and her husband Bill. But even last week involved some waiting.

"One inch of rain halted notion of combining soybeans (last Monday)," Karen told DTN via email. That left time for Bill to seed a freshly repaired dam in the pasture. With weaning time approaching and a few extra cows to sell, a trip to Dunlap Livestock Auction for an update on cattle prices was in order. Unfortunately, volume was so low, the sale was over before Bill arrived. Word has it that spring-bred cows brought $2,000 to $2,100 per head.

While Bill did his chores, Karen took care of business at home. "I did fun things like dishes, laundry, and reading markets and news," Karen said. One article she read highlighted premiums paid for non-genetically modified corn. "I think growing such (corn) may offer a premium for a niche market. Growers say it costs less to grow and yields nearly the same as GMO varieties. With horrid corn prices, perhaps more farmers will consider growing non-GMO corn to cut costs for 2015," she reasoned.

By Wednesday of last week, conditions were at least good enough to mow the lawn -- again. So while Karen did that, Bill and son Jerod checked grain moisture in fields of standing crops and made a test run with the combine to set it. Soybeans still tested high at 17.5%.

On Thursday, another run with the combine resulted in a broken shaft to an after-market air reel on the combine grain head. With no replacement in stock at the dealers -- the nearest supplies were in North Dakota -- delivery would have delayed repairs by almost a week. There was one alternative option. That's why Guyer Machine Shop in Hancock was enlisted to make one.

At last, on Friday, soybean cutting began in earnest with Jerod running the combine. It was a long, 9-mile trip from field to bins. Karen drove with the tractor and wagon as Bill hauled away with the semi-truck. But machines never fail until they're used. Another breakdown later in the day stopped work until sundown when it was finally repaired. Then more repairs on Saturday delayed harvest until midafternoon. "None of this is a fun way to start the harvest season and makes for long, frustrating, tiring days," Karen said.

Last week they harvested 204 acres of soybeans. Yield monitor readings put them at 65 to 70 bushels per acre. But obviously it wasn't easy. "There were lots of ditches in the fields from earlier-in-the-year heavy rains; and from recent rains there were lots of wet spots to go around and some places where water was standing in the fields or running down field ditches. We did not get stuck, fortunately, and were certainly thankful for that," Karen commented.

Harvest days last from dawn until whenever. A typical day could have the Johnsons out until well after dark. But livestock must be cared for too.

No matter how long the day, sometimes it's still too short.

This is Karen's account of Sunday morning before the day's harvest work began: "(We) hurried with breakfast and Bill dashed out to unload a semi of beans from last night. Then Bill took the grinder/mixer with calf creep feed to two feeders in the cow/calf pasture. I headed out with the old loader tractor and helped him put round bales to pasture cows and back at home to two other groups of cows and calves. I fueled up a tractor, threw in a load of laundry, prepared jugs of ice water and lunch stuff for our day ..."

"You get the idea as to why we are tired at the end of the day," she said.

Richard Oswald can be reached at Talk@dtn.com

Follow Richard Oswald on Twitter @RRoswald

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Richard Oswald